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wpayne's review against another edition
4.0
Vandana Shiva is one of the most prolific writers of the ecofeminist movement, a type of intersectional feminism which links the destruction of women’s traditional role as agricultural producers to both female disempowerment and environmental degradation. In the West, this movement has been criticized as mythicizing women, but you’ll find none of that here. Shiva’s writing is deeply rooted in the struggle of small-holder farmers in northern India and the Punjab, where she grew up, and her proposals are as pragmatic as they are fierce.
“Staying Alive” is a hard book to describe because it is so forcefully articulate, and covers a remarkable breadth of topics. The best word for it is probably “virtuosic.” Building from theoretical critiques of modern development and modern science in the first two chapters, the book enters a discussion of the ways that changes in agricultural practice, particularly GMOs and the “Green Revolution,” have hurt the poor—especially poor women. Shiva’s approach, although an intense criticism of the entire establishment of modern agriculture, is nonviolent—she advocates re-establishing a “feminine principle” in agriculture and development which respects traditional knowledge and develops natural resources over long periods of time. Shiva links these principles to Hindu cosmology, making an argument for a feminine ethos of “Prakrti,” in agricultural production, which respects both traditional beliefs and traditional ecological practices.
Shiva is an activist and a radical, and her work can be challenging to adjust to—it can be easy to perceive some of her claims as overblown, particularly when she discusses her zero-tolerance stance on GMOs, or her wholesale interpretation of science as misogynistic. Some critical thought is helpful when reading these claims. However, Shiva’s overall approach is quite valuable, and is well worth considering. There are major undiscussed problems inside the “progress” of modern development, and there are under-studied alternatives to dominant economic and agricultural practices. Combining elements of feminism, conservationism, and human rights can have a very productive impact on the debate, and Shiva’s perspective is a valuable contribution on the side of small-holder farmers, rural women, and traditional agriculture.
“Staying Alive” is a hard book to describe because it is so forcefully articulate, and covers a remarkable breadth of topics. The best word for it is probably “virtuosic.” Building from theoretical critiques of modern development and modern science in the first two chapters, the book enters a discussion of the ways that changes in agricultural practice, particularly GMOs and the “Green Revolution,” have hurt the poor—especially poor women. Shiva’s approach, although an intense criticism of the entire establishment of modern agriculture, is nonviolent—she advocates re-establishing a “feminine principle” in agriculture and development which respects traditional knowledge and develops natural resources over long periods of time. Shiva links these principles to Hindu cosmology, making an argument for a feminine ethos of “Prakrti,” in agricultural production, which respects both traditional beliefs and traditional ecological practices.
Shiva is an activist and a radical, and her work can be challenging to adjust to—it can be easy to perceive some of her claims as overblown, particularly when she discusses her zero-tolerance stance on GMOs, or her wholesale interpretation of science as misogynistic. Some critical thought is helpful when reading these claims. However, Shiva’s overall approach is quite valuable, and is well worth considering. There are major undiscussed problems inside the “progress” of modern development, and there are under-studied alternatives to dominant economic and agricultural practices. Combining elements of feminism, conservationism, and human rights can have a very productive impact on the debate, and Shiva’s perspective is a valuable contribution on the side of small-holder farmers, rural women, and traditional agriculture.
klibri's review
4.0
First off, Shiva cannot seem to write without clobbering repetition. The heart of her ideas and activism, however, are galvanising and foundational. She has transformed the way I think about food justice and agroecology. She questions the sanctity of science and development and [reveals] that these are not universal categories of progress, but…projects of modern western patriarchy. Food and water as life itself have been distorted into modes of generating profit—literally at the cost of life itself in soil degradation, waterlogging, salinity, and desertification.
Agriculture based on diversity, decentralization, and improving small farm productivity through ecological methods is a women-centered, nature-friendly agriculture. In this agriculture, knowledge is shared—other species and plants are kin, not “property”—and sustainability is based on the renewal of the earth’s fertility and the renewal and regeneration of biodiversity and species richness on farms.
The scientific revolution in Europe transformed nature from terra mater into a machine and a source of raw material; with this transformation it removed all ethical and cognitive constraints against its violation and exploitation.
[The technocratic] mind proposes an extension of the disease as the cure—its solution to desertification is more dams, more tubewells, more water intensive cultivation on the one hand, and more technology intensive solutions to the drinking water crisis on the other.
Reductionist economics assumes that only paid labour produces value. On the one hand this leads to ignoring [humanity’s dependence] on the natural world, while on the other, it provides the ideology of the gender division of labour such that women’s work in producing sustenance is treated as having no economic value even while it provides the very basis of survival and well-being…[If] production of life cannot be reckoned with in money terms, then it is economic models, and not women’s work in producing sustenance and life, that must be sacrificed.
At a time when a quarter of the world’s population is threatened by starvation due to erosion of soil, water, and genetic diversity of living resources, chasing the mirage of unending growth, by spreading resource destructive technologies, becomes a major source of genocide. The killing of people by the murder of nature is an invisible form of violence which is today the biggest threat to justice and peace.
Note: I have read three books by Vandana Shiva so far and I find Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology the most accessible.
geraldine97's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
A must-read if you're interested in the ecofeminist movement.
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